


Two-point Perspective

by Tallulah_Rasa



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Friendship, Sort-of alternate future, Sort-of post-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-29
Updated: 2014-07-29
Packaged: 2018-02-10 23:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2044749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallulah_Rasa/pseuds/Tallulah_Rasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack sees something, Daniel sees something else, and Teal'c and Sam are seeing each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two-point Perspective

**Author's Note:**

> This probably makes the most sense set during Season 2. (It was, by the way, written in 2004.) Thanks to Mr. Rasa for pointing out the things "a guy would never say", and for thinking this was a perfectly reasonable use of my time. Thanks also to Erin for the read-through.

"You saw them?" Daniel asked, turning away from the temple wall's encrusted inscriptions with his brush in mid-swing. Jack thought he probably sounded like that at twelve, when he first discovered the kind of pictures they print in _National Geographic_.

"Yeah," Jack said again, holding the light a little higher. "But I didn't have to. Teal'c came and told me himself. It was like a scene from 'Ozzie and Harriet', with him asking for permission to date my . . .my . . ."

"I'd go with 'second in command'," Daniel said. "And I'm not sure about 'Ozzie and Harriet', unless their next door neighbors were from Chulak. But that's not important. You _saw_ them?"

Jack gave him a look. "Yes, Daniel, I saw them. Okay?"

Daniel sighed. "It's just -- that makes it real, you know?"

"She's a big girl," Jack said. "And he's . . ."

"A big boy," Daniel said, with no hint of irony. "And -- I know. That they know what they're doing, and everything. I'm happy for them. I just . . ." He turned back to the wall and shrugged.

"I know," Jack said quietly.

"Do you wish it was you?" Daniel blurted.

It was Jack's turn to sigh. Ever the communicator, Daniel never got that there were some things you just didn't say. "No," he said, shaking his head emphatically. "I guess once I thought . . ."

Daniel nodded.

"Except really, I didn't," Jack conceded. He moved the light again, and wished Daniel would hurry the hell up. Or develop an interest in something more...interesting. "It was just that --I don't know, I liked the idea, I guess. And even before, we didn't have a lot of choice in the relationship pool."

"Hard to even have friends outside the SGC, " Daniel said. " _I'm sorry, I have to cancel. I can't tell you why. I can't tell you where I'm going. I can't tell you when I'm coming back_. "

"And dating was even more complicated. _If I talk in my sleep, I'll have to kill you_ ," Jack added.

They both sort-of laughed.

"You almost done here?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Daniel said. "I guess we should get back to Teal'c and Sam. Or...maybe we should give them some time. I mean...oh, damn, this is going to be weird, isn't it?"

Jack shrugged. "A little. They'll be professional, but...you worried about being safe when we're off world?"

"I'm worried about being jealous," Daniel admitted.

"You and Carter?" Jack asked, eyes wide. "Isn't that like -- incest?" He sank down onto the packed dirt floor, put down the light, and gestured to Daniel to sit.

"Eeeeeww," Daniel said, wrinkling his nose as he settled next to Jack. "No, not jealous about Sam. I mean...even though Sha're is...well, you know. But...jealous about the whole thing. Having someone. Sharing things. Sex."

"Don't say that!" Jack said. "Not about Carter!"

Daniel snorted. "You were the one who thought about having a relationship with her." He opened his pack, grabbed a sheaf of papers and a pencil, and began rapidly copying the symbols from the wall.

"Not like that. I mean -- I'm her CO. It wouldn't be right. And she'd kill me if she thought I thought about it. And besides..."

"Besides...?"

"You know," Jack said. Trust Daniel to jump on _that_. "I wasn't sure if... if..."

"Yeah," Daniel said after a minute. "Though I'm not sure it matters now."

They looked at each other.

"It's not like it was any better before," Daniel said, leaning back onto the wall. A puff of dust settled on his hair.

"Hey! There were opportunities," Jack said.

Daniel made a face.

"The nursing staff," Jack said.

"They had a pool on which of us would need the most stitches every month," Daniel said. "That's not exactly a basis for a relationship."

"Well, what about..."

"Janet," Daniel said, gesturing with a pencil in Jack's direction.

"Daniel!"

"You never thought about it?"

"She knew too much," Jack said with a shudder. "And I outrank her."

"You outrank everyone."

"That's true. But _you_ and Janet..."

Daniel gave him a look.

"Scared you, huh?"

"You betcha," Daniel said.

"Not many other women in the SGC."

"Being involved with someone on another team would have been as bad as being involved with someone outside," Daniel said with the air of someone who'd thought about it. "You'd never see each other. And as close as you get to your own team, it's hard to imagine having enough energy left for someone else." He stood up with a piece of paper and a handful of pencils. Holding the sheet over a section of the wall, he carefully ran one pencil across it. Frowning at the results, he stuck the pencil in his mouth and tried another, and then another. Finally satisfied, he began a careful rubbing.

"So, you're stuck with your own team," Jack said thoughtfully. "Which leaves us with each other."

Daniel made a choked sound and shot a mouthful of pencils across the alcove.

_Lucky he didn't inhale_ , Jack thought. "What?" he asked. Time passed a lot faster when he was annoying Daniel.

"Geez, Jack," Daniel said in a voice that sounded like maybe he _had_ swallowed a pencil or two.

_Two points_ , Jack thought.

Daniel shook his head, retrieved his pencils, and returned to his rubbing. "It would never work between us."

"I'm not smart enough?" Jack asked.

"We'd kill each other," Daniel said.

"Oh, that," Jack said. He scrambled up and picked up the light again, for something to do.

"How long do you think it's been going on between Teal'c and Sam?" Daniel asked, giving up on the rubbing and turning to slouch along the wall.

"Does it matter?"

"Well, I sort of wonder when they...oh, damn, she's never going to tell me anything anymore. Damn it, I _hate_ change."

"We should be glad she's happy." In the pool of lantern light, Daniel's face was clear. Jack flicked the switch off and moved until they were standing shoulder-to shoulder in the semi-darkness.

"I _am_ glad she's happy," Daniel insisted. "I'm just mad because I'm not. Because Sam being in a relationship means I lose a friend. I won't be the one she hangs out with, or the one she confides in."

Jack looked at him sympathetically. "Yeah, well, that sucks."

Daniel sighed. "I'm happy for Sam and Teal'c."

"Maybe we should ask Teal'c if he knows any nice Jaffa women who wouldn't mind..."

"Or ask Sam if her dad knows any--"

"No!" Jack interrupted. "No snakes!"

Daniel put his head back, mindful of the fragile words carved into the wall, and then turned to blink in Jack's direction. "I wonder why Teal'c didn't ask _my_ permission. Sam's like my sister."

"You're a wuss," Jack said without any rancor. "Grab your stuff, we should get back."

Daniel obediently went to his pack and began stuffing it with papers and brushes. "But Teal'c respects me," he said.

"He probably figured you'd be okay with it, because you're okay with everything," Jack said, hoisting his own pack and checking his gun. "Even..." he gestured around vaguely, "all of this."

Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"You're a nice guy, okay?"

"It doesn't pay to be nice," Daniel said mournfully.

"Yeah," Jack said. "But look at it this way -- I'm an ass, and that's not paying off, either."

"You _are_ an ass," Daniel said thoughtfully.

"Missing the point here, Daniel."

"Am I?" Daniel said with a grin. "Okay, I'm ready to go."

"I should have told Janet you wanted her _bad_."

"I would have told her you were projecting."

They stepped out of the temple and started back to the site their teammates had chosen for their mineral tests.

"We could live together when we're old," Jack said suddenly. "Like the Odd Couple, but with zats."

Daniel's eyebrows shot up. "Maybe you didn't really see them," he said, a little too forcefully. "Maybe Teal'c didn't say what you thought he said. I mean, English isn't his first language."

"Oh, no, Daniel. I _saw_ them," Jack said, steering Daniel around a large puddle that looked like it might be bottomless.

"You -- oh, you mean you _saw_ them, saw them?"

Jack nodded.

"Damn."

Jack nodded again.

"Wait -- _where_ did you -- oh, never mind, I don't want to know." Daniel ran a hand through his hair. "You're _sure_?"

Jack sidestepped something that looked like a pile of animal droppings, and sighed as Daniel stepped squarely in the middle of it. "Of what I saw? Or of _who_ I saw?  Because really, Daniel, who else could it have been? And you can't really mistake...well, you know."

"Damn," Daniel said. "This is going to be awful. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"I just...nothing," Daniel said. Sunlight bounced off his hair, creating a halo that shimmered as he shook his head. "It's nothing. Really. Though it would...No, Sam would never go for it."

"Daniel, you _dog_!"

There was a moment of silence, punctuated only by the sound of boots crunching leaves.

"Not a dog, Jack," Daniel said quietly. "An android."

Jack wheeled in front of Daniel and stopped dead in the middle of the path. "I--" he said, and then he took a deep breath, fighting the urge to shove Daniel, hard. "Yeah, Daniel, I _know_. You don't have to keep reminding me. I know you're an android. I know Sam and  Teal'c are androids. I know _I'm_ an android. I know we have to get back home in thirty-seven minutes or we'll fade out. I know when we go through the Gate I'm going to have to hear Harlan say, " Comtraya!" I _know,_ okay? I just don't think we have to bring it up all the time."

Daniel put a hand on Jack's arm. "Sorry," Daniel said, gently nudging Jack until he started walking again. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I--"

"I know. Forget it. I'm just cranky. I need some sleep."

Daniel nodded, and they walked in silence for a few more minutes.

"Uh, thank you for not telling me we don't sleep, we recharge," Jack said.

"Jack--"

"And for not telling me the history of the word, 'recharging'. And for--"

"Like the Odd Couple, but with zats," Daniel said softly. "Only, we're not going to get old."

Jack didn't look at Daniel, because he knew what he'd see in Daniel's eyes. And what Daniel would see in his. Some things you knew not to look for. It was hard enough dealing with the things you saw accidentally.

"I--" Daniel began, but Jack's training kicked in, training and maybe something else, something that allowed him to see things he wouldn't have seen before. Jack didn't think of it as "better", but what the hell, it was there. You used what you had.

"Well, no," he said lightly, before Daniel could say anything else he wasn't supposed to say. "We're not going to get old. But we're still like the Odd Couple, and we still have the zats. So, two out of three, Daniel. And all we really need is two."

Up over the rise was the site, and beyond it the Stargate. Jack could see Teal'c and Sam packing up their equipment. Sam waved.

"Sam might..." Daniel said. He waved back at Sam, and turned to Jack. "You never know. And Harlan could..."

Jack looked then, but there was only light in Daniel's eyes.

"We don't know what could happen," Daniel went on, with some of his usual enthusiasm. "We didn't know what would happen when we went through the Stargate the first time. We didn't imagine _this_. Lots of things could happen in the future. _Anything_ could happen."

Daniel was often right, Jack knew. And if it turned out he wasn't, they'd figure something out. No matter how you looked at it, they had plenty of time. Not to mention a couple of zats.

"Anything might happen," he repeated, though it sounded better, more positive, when Daniel said it.

"Yeah," Daniel said, smiling. "So..."

Jack could see the future. He'd been seeing a lot, lately. Or maybe he'd always seen a lot, and he just hadn't noticed. "Well, for one thing, we'll hold on to the zats," he said. "Just in case."

"Good idea," Daniel said, and he could still do that thing, the one where his eyes smiled, even though he wasn't smiling. "At some point in the future, you might want to shoot me."

"Probably," Jack said. Laughing felt just like it always did, always had. Life felt like it always did, always had. "I guess we'll see."

END

 


End file.
